Roller mill



June 24, 1930( J. w. KENT 1,767,591

ROLLER MILL Filed May 9, 1929' s sheets-sheet 1 '6 Sheets-Sheet 2 J. W.4KENT Filed May 9, 1929 Nw. Nm.

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June 24, .1930.

l/ITTORNEY J. W. KENT ROLLER MILL June 24, `1930.

Filed May 9, 1929 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 [NI/ENTOR.

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wv L lwmmn V\w., -l mm\ Patented June 24, 1930 UNITED sTArs JAMES W.KENT., OF BROOKLYN, NTN YQRK ROLLER MILL Application ined May 9,

This invention relates to roller mills of the type adapted for grindingpaints, inks, chocolate and like substances and materials. The object ofthe invention is to provide a roller mill for these purposes embodying,`certain novel features whereby to increase the etli-` ciency of themachine and improve its construction.

One object of the invention is to provide 1o improved means foradjust-ing the rollers and to regulate the pressures between them.Another' object is to provide a live roller mill in which the rollersare arranged in a novel manner. Still another' object is to providemeans for f-eeding the material from a hopper by a small take offroller. Other objects of the invention arel to provide an improveddelivery apron and visible' means for indicating the pressure betweenthe different rollers.

2o Still other objects and features of the inven'tion will appear fromthe following specitication read in connection with the accompanyingdrawings in which Figure 1 is an end view of a roller mill embodying theinvention, parts being omitted and other parts being broken away.

Figure' 2 is a front view of the mill with parts omitted and brokenaway.

Figure 3 is a rear view of the machine with 3o parts omitted.

Figure 4 is a diagrammatic view of the gearing.

In the drawings the reference numeral 5 denotes a hollow housing orframework in which there is mounted a plurality of grinding rollers 6,7, 8, 9 and 10. The roller 6 is also a feed roller.

The other main grinding rollers are provided with shafts 11, 12, 13 and11ijournaled in slidably supported bearing boxes 15, 16, 17 and 18. Itwill be understood that the construction and arrangement of these partsas shown in Figure 1 are duplicated at the other side of the machine.

The roller bearing boxes are kept in place by top bars or braces 19, 19and front bars or braces 20, 20. The rolls are kept in frictionalgrinding contact with each other and are adj ustable so as to regulatethe pressure between them. The adjustment, however, is regu- Serial No.381,836.

lated with reference to the third rollerS the bearings 16 of which areclamped in position between the frame and the front bars 20.

The second roll 7 is adjusted with reference to the roll 8 by thefollowing means. The reference numeral 22 denotes spacing blocks whichare clamped between the front bars 2() and the frame 5 leaving room forthe' bearings 15 to slide in. Springs 23 are interposed between thebearings and the frame.

In front of the roller 15 and at each end there is mounted on the framea bracket 24 which supports a shaft 25 which engages the bearing 15.rilhe shaft carries a gear 26 in mesh with a pinion 27 on an adjustingshaft 28 which extends parallel with the roll 7. By rotating the shaft28 the bearings 15 will be adjusted with relation to the third roll 8,the springs 23 providing the necessary yielding resistance to themovement of the bearings 15 in a well known manner.

In order to compensate. for wear or unevenness in the roll 7 and itsbearings there is provided a micrometer adjustment at one end thereofcomprising a sleeve 30 slidably carried in the block 22.

The shaft 9.5 is threaded through the sleeve, and the latter is finelyadjusted in relation to the block by a bolt 31 which is screwed into theblock and passes through an extension or head 32 of the sleeve 30.

t will therefore be seen that by turning the bolt 3l, the sleeve, whichserves as a nut for the shaft 25, will be adjusted with relation to thebearing 15, hence take up for wear at the one end of the roll 7 so as tokeep the latter in true parallelism to the third roller 8. Themicrometer adjustment is therefore required at only one end of the rollsas is obvious.

In front of the bracket is mounted a casing 34 which encloses a gear 35fast on the shaft 25 and in mesh with a wide pinion 3G which operates apointer 87 over a scale 38. The parts are so arranged that as thepressure of the roll 7 aganst the roll 8 is adjusted, the pointer 37will be rotated and indicate the pressure on the scale in a well knownmanner.

The pressure indicating means are located at only one end of the rolleras seen'in Figure Q. The gear slides on the pinion 36 as the pressure isadjusted.

The means for adjusting the roll 7 are duplicated above the roll 9 foradjusting the latter also with relation to the roll 8 and the parts aresimilarly numbered. Springs 39 are interposed between rolls to provideyielding frictional contact between rolls 8 and 9. The bearings 17 slidevertically between the front bars 2O and spacing blocks 40 clamped tothe frame by the top bars 19.

Again, as seen in Figure 3, the fifth roll l0 is adjusted towards theroll 9 by still a third unit of adjusting mechanism similar to the onedescribed above and similarly numbered. In this case springs 42 areinterposed between the blocks and thc bearings 18. The shaft-'s 25 foradj listing the roll l() pass Y through spacing blocks In all threecases referred to the pressure indicating means ar also provided asshown. The operating shafts Q8 carry suitable handwheels 44.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the pressure between adjacentrolls is adjustable separately and may be observed by the indicatingmeans for each adjustable unit.

To the bearingl boxes l5 at each end of the roll 7 there is bolted abracket 50, see Figures l and 2. The brackets occupy the spaces betweenthe ends of the roller 7 and the front hars 20, the boxes being wideenough to have the brackets bolted thereto as will be understood.

The brackets extend upward and support in slidable relation smallerhearing boiies 51 in which the feed roll 6 is j ournaled. The feed rollmay be adjusted with relation to the roll 7 by screws 52. The brackets50 support between them the feed hopper 54e which contains the materialto be ground. The feed hopper is provided with lugs through which passscrews 56. The latter are screwed into the brackets 59.

By this means, not only is the hopper supported, but it may be adj ustedvertically with relation to the rolls 6 and 7. The bottom of the hopperis of course open and the sides 57 of the hopper are cut or shaped atthe bot-tom as shown in Figure l at 58 to lit the contours of the tworollers 6 and 7. These two rollers therefore form the bottom of thehopper.

The brackets 50 have slots 59 curved on an arc with the shaft 60 of theroll G as center. Bolts 0l pass through the slots and into bosses in thesides of the hopper. Then it is desired to clean the rolls or for otherpurposes, the screws 56 are loosened and the hopper swung outward untilthe bolts Gl reach the outer ends of the slots 59. The bolts 6l are thentightened and maintain the hopper in outward tilted position, the sidesof the hopper sliding with their bottom edges on the roll G as will beunderstood. The reverse movement puts the hopper back into position.

The material in the hopper is carried away hy the roll 6 and around theother rollers in the order named. F rom the last or fifth roller l() thematerial is taken or scraped as it were by a blade which is carried by abar GG parallel to the roll lO. rlhe bar 66 is hingec at each end on apin or stud, 67 which is fast in the adjacent bewaring boa: i8.

The bearing botes 1S have rearwardly and inwardly extending port-ions orwings 68. The lower parts thereof carry the pins 67. The upper partshave lugs 69 through which pass screws 70 which bear against the scraperbar 6G to one side of the pins G7. Hence, when the screws 70 areadjusted, the scraper blade G5 is tilted wi h respect to the roll l0.

The numeral 72 denotes a sui port secured t-o the frame and having ahole 73. A delivery chute or apron 74's extends downward from thescraper. The apron has a` pin 75 which tits into the said hole 73 tosupport the lower part of the apron. The latter is formed withupstanding sides 7 6, the upper ends of which rest on the bar 36 at eachend of the scraper blade as seen in Figure 3.

The delivery apron may therefore be detached very easily by a merelifting movement to free it from the support 72. rl`he scraper blade hassides 77 inside the deliver y apron. y .Y

rllhe rolls are driven as follows, see Figure A, driving shaft 89extends through the frame and carries a pinion 8l. rihe latter drives agear 82 on roll shaft 18. Shaft i3 carries a pinion S3 which drivesagear 84 on the roll shaft l2 which also carries a pinion 85. The latterdrives a gear 86 on roll shaft ll. On the other end of the machine shaft'll carries a gear 87 which drives pinion 88 on roll shaft 69. The ratioof the gearing is such that each roll is driven at an increasinglygreater speed than the preceding roll.

Ink or other material which is to be ground is poured into the hopper 5dand the greater portion of the material will rest on the roll 7. A smallportion of the ink will be carried away by the roller 7, but thegreatest portion will be taken olf by the slower moving feed roll 6 anddeposited as a film on the roll 7 and then carried around from roll ytoroll and finally taken off thc last roll 19 bv the scraper G5. t will beseen that the constructirm provides for four points of grinding actionbetween the live rolls so that wheirtho protV is completed a supertinelyground material is obtained.

rlhe means for adjusting the rolls contribnte to a large degree to thesuperior grindlng of the product, because each roll inav be adjusted toa very fine degree with respect to the next roll by reason of the factthat the adjustment, while being made with reference to obtain theproper grii'iding` contact, nevertheless is made mechanically ae'ainstthe springs backed by fixed member.d

This has been found to be superior to means of adjustment which operatemerely between two rolls. In the latter case all iiiaccuracies orirregularities between the rolls are multiplied, whereas in the presentinstance, if one ioll is inaccurately adjusted, the fault is local forthat particular roll. It has also been found to be of great advantage toprovide the smaller feed roll 6 instead of a large feed roll which isslower in action. It is of course also an advantage that the pressuresbetween the rolls may at all times be accurately ascertained by lookingat the gages 37-38- In order to guard against undue spreading of thematerial, return guides 90 ai'e pro* vided for conducting surplusmaterial from roll 9 down into the hopper 54. Vheii the rolls are to becleaned and the hopper is swung forward as described, a guard 91protects the operator from having his hands caught between the rolls 8and 9. It is iinportant to guard against accidents at this point becausethe operator reaches in over the hopper.

The pressure of the scraper against the last roller l() may beaccurately adjusted by the screws 70. The apron 74 is easily detachedand the scraper bar and scraper removed by lifting tlie bar off the pins67 thus giving easy access to the rear of the machine.

Rolling mills of the character described herein are usually providedwith water cooling devices. These and other usual parts of the machineare not shown. It will further be understood that changes may be made inthe construction shown and described without departing from the essenceof the invention and I therefore reserve the right to make such changesas fall within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

I. A roller mill of the character described comprising in combination afirst relatively large grinding roll, a feed roll of materially lessdiameter mounted above and to one side of the said first roll, a pair ofsuperposed grinding rolls mounted on the opposite side of the firstgrinding roll, a final grinding roll mounted on the same level as therippermost of said pair of superposed grinding rolls, the said fourgrinding rollsbeing all of the same size, means for supporting each ofsaid rolls in frictional grinding contact with the adjacent rolls andmeans for exerting pressure between each pair of adjacent rolls separatefrom the pressure on the other rolls.

2. A roller mill of the character described comprising in combination afirst relatively large grinding roll, a feed roll of materially lessdiameter mounted above and to one side of the said first roll, a pair ofsuperposed grindinol rolls mounted on the opposite side of thel Erstgrinding roll, a final grinding roll mounted on the saine level as theuppermost of said pair of superposed grinding rolls, the said fourgrinding rolls being all of the same size, means for supporting each ofsaid rolls in frictional grinding Contact with the adjacentI rolls,means for exerting pressure between each pair of adjacent rolls separatefrom the pressure on the other rolls and means for regulating andindicating said pressures.

3. A roller mill of the character described comprising in combination afirst relatively large grinding roll, a feed roll of materially lessdiameter mounted above and to one side of the said first roll, a hoppermounted above the said two rolls and having an open bottom through whicha portion of the surfaces of said rolls project, the sides of saidhopper having their lower edges curved to fit the contours of the rolls,means for adjusting the hopper with relation to the said two.

rolls, other grinding rolls mounted on the other side of said firstnamed grinding roll and means for maintaining all of said rolls iiifrictioiial grinding contact with each other.

4. A roller mill of the character described comprising in combination afirst relatively large grinding roll, slidably mounted beaiing boxes forsupporting said roll, brackets secured to said bearing boxes, smallerbear`l the said grinding rolls, means for supporting said feed roll tomove with one of said grinding rolls when the latter is adjusted, meansfor adjusting said feed roll iiidividually with respect to the said onegrinding roll and a hopper fi'oin which said feed rolf is adapted tofeed the material to the said one grinding roll.

6. In a roller mill of the character described tlie combination ofbearing boxes,

brackets secured thereto, a grinding roll mounted in said bearing boxes,a feed roll mounted in said brackets in contact with said grinding roll,a hopper supported on said brackets, means for adjusting the hopper withrespect to the said two rolls, means foi" adjusting the feed roll withrespect to the hopper and the grinding roll and means for adjusting thesaid bearing boxes.

7. In a roller mill of the character described tlie combination ofbearing boxes, brackets secured thereto, a grinding roll mounted in saidbearing boxes, a feed i'oll mounted in said brackets in contact withsaid grinding roll, a hopper supported on said brackets, means foradjusting the hopper with respectto the Said two rolls, means foradjusting the feed roll Wit-h respect to the hopper and the grinding10117 means for adjusting the said bearing boxes and means for swingingsaid hoppenl away from the said rolls for the purposes set forth.

JAMES W. KENT.

